<topic>
	<head>
		<title>COUNT</title>
		<keywords>
			<keyword term="functions, COUNT" />
			<keyword term="aggregates, COUNT" />
			<keyword term="aggregate functions, COUNT" />
			<keyword term="COUNT aggregate" />
		</keywords>
		<links>
			<link href="Functions.html">Functions</link>
			<link href="Aggregate Functions.html">Aggregate Functions</link>
		</links>
	</head>
	<body>
		<summary>
			<p>
				Returns the number of items in a group.
			</p>
		</summary>

		<syntax>
			<code xml:space="preserve">COUNT ( { expression | * } ) RETURNS int</code>
		</syntax>

		<parameters>
			<params>
				<param name="value">
					<p>
						Can be an expression of any type.
					</p>
				</param>
			</params>
		</parameters>

		<returns>
			<p>
				<c>COUNT(*)</c> returns the number of items in a group. This includes <c>NULL</c> values and duplicates.
			</p>
			<p>
				<c>COUNT(expression)</c> evaluates <c>expression</c> for each row in a group and returns the number of non-<c>NULL</c> values.
			</p>
		</returns>
	</body>
</topic>
